


Drops of Starlight

by peachsticks



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 12:51:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachsticks/pseuds/peachsticks





	Drops of Starlight

Asra had disappeared again by morning, leaving only a cold mug of last night’s tea and a still sleeping Faust on the kitchen table. It had felt good to share the strange and thrilling events with him, to have someone else who truly understood my internal conflict. In an unspoken way, his absence lent to his respect for my feelings, to allow me space to choose without pressure. Asra made it clear of the worry for me getting involved with Julian and the path it may take me, but above else the choice to pursue that path has been left free for me, without judgment, without constraints.

 

Settling in to the chair after warming a fresh cup of tea, my mind floats back to Julian. The expression he gave me after returning me to the shop, the way he kept stopping himself from saying so many things on the walk home, the desperation in each of his fluttery kisses. My heart ached for the deep well of sadness that kept creeping into his eye during the night, the shadow that ghosted across his face in between those kisses.

 

The sun’s warmth pulls me from my thoughts, reminding me that the world continues on its forward path regardless of what mysteries and pains wrought the previous night.

 

And I must as well.

 

I down the rest of my tea as the rumbling of a carriage sounds outside the shop. A rapid series of knocks followed by a familiar voice calling out to me begins the day’s forward momentum. Brooding alone in the shop would serve me no good and certainly be of no help to Julian and the issue of his involvement with the Count’s murder. I had access to resources and the pull of my intuition to guide me.

 

“Coming!” I shout towards the door as I gather my things back into my bag. Faust blinks at me sleepily, shifting to better enjoy the gentle morning rays as I leave.

 

****

 

The fountain is a welcome, familiar sight after a long day of courtiers, dusty libraries, and planning and re-planning for the coming Masquerade.

 

The marble is luminescent under the glow of the nearly full moon, the misty spray like glittering gems falling into the silvery water. I sit on the edge and dip my fingertips into the water, marveling at how the ripples dance across the surface. A gentle breeze wafts through, causing the nearby trees to whisper around me. The leaves shiver and a soft mist from the fountain sprinkles across my face.

 

I lift my hand from the water and allow the surface to still, looking first at my reflection and then through it, hoping to reach past and see. Am I calling for Asra? Or something else? My mind is swirling, thoughts of that charming doctor colouring the confusion. Sighing, I lean back and look up at the sky, casting my worries upwards to the stars.

 

“I want you.” He had said, melancholy deepening his voice. His trembling touches, the flush of his cheeks as he spoke from his heart, the honesty in his face. I wrap my arms around myself and sigh.

 

Something snakes its way around my waist, startling me. I grab the mass and jab my arm backwards, seeking to toss whatever it is into the fountain to give myself time to escape. Something… rubbery slips off the form and into my clenched fist. I hear a rather large splash behind me as I look down to find a… glove?

 

“W-well hello to yo-ou too, shopkeep,” says a sputtering voice from behind.

 

Turning around, I finally realize the rubbery snake was nothing more than Julian’s gloved arm sneaking an embrace from behind. I must’ve been completely absorbed in my thoughts if I hadn’t noticed any rustling of leaves or quiet footfalls approaching.

 

Realizing my mistake, I hurriedly grasp onto his arm and help him sit upright on the fountain’s edge, sheepishly offering his glove as he coughs a few times and shakes his hair. As my fear abates and I’m able to fully look at him, I’m rendered breathless. His damp, translucent shirt billows in the breeze and the moonlight illuminates a naked expanse of his chest from the few undone buttons of his shirt. His hair glistens as if hundreds of stars are nestled in the ruffles, dropping here and there as he moves while putting his only dry item of clothing back on his arm.

 

My eyes follow a single droplet that cascades from the tip of one such ruffle and plop onto the dip in his collarbone, and slipping down into the light tangle of hair on his chest. He must’ve caught my gaze because a pleased laugh dances between us as he stands upright, all but basking under the moon’s full glow.

 

“Liking what you see? I suppose this was your plan the entire time, luring me in with your sweet face, sighing under the night sky like this just to toss me in the water for your own perusal!” Julian proclaims, settling one hand on his hip and grinning down at me mischievously.

 

The humour in his eye puts off any worry of anger from carelessly pushing him, but the embarrassment of being caught so openly admiring him makes me glance sideways, hoping my blush isn’t as bright as it feels.

 

“Actually, I thought you were one of those large exotic animals I’d been hearing so much about, coming to claim its midnight snack. You can’t just sneak up on someone in the middle of the night like this… wait, why are you – how did you get here?” It only just registered that I was in the palace garden and that Julian, the person Nadia places the fault of her husband’s death, is here with me.

 

“Weren’t you the one introduced to my study in the library during your days here? And you’ve seen yourself how skilled I am at entering places that may not so warmly welcome me,” he replies with another crooked grin.

 

He would be well-versed in the palace grounds as I recall the bits of his time here that I know. I smile to myself, remembering the hidden door deep in the maze and how it led out to the part of town where he moves through so swiftly. Looking back up at him, I march the few steps over to stand directly before him and press a finger into his shoulder.

 

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here in the garden of someone who is actively seeking to…” My voice trails off, unable to complete the thought. That now familiar shadow washes over his expression briefly, before being replaced by his usual charm.

 

“You know what they say – keep your friends close, and enemies closer. Why not spare a night right under the nose of the person looking everywhere but here for me? And particularly when I’ve come across such alluring company…” Julian takes my hand and places it palm open against the bare skin of his chest, leaning in to whisper that last bit in my ear. A shiver runs through me as his breath tickles my neck, droplets of water falling onto the curve of my shoulder.

 

Fleeting thoughts of the previous night’s events run through my mind. There are still so many unanswered questions, reasons he has hesitated to share, feelings of my own that are warming rapidly in my heart. The sadness tingeing the sweet words he said, those desperate kisses…

 

I want to know, I want to know.

 

I pull my face back enough to look at him, and I’m captivated by the uninhibited longing in his eye, the way his mouth is just barely trembling, the way his heart rate picks up when we lock gazes. His burning words echo in my mind again, as clear as if he spoke them aloud. “I want you.”

 

It’s what I see etched deep into his eye, the feeling he’s resisting as he holds me close. He does not move, nor blink. He simply waits my decision, watching the way my mouth parts and my breath catches in my throat. All I can hear in this stretching quiet between us is his words, the words now slipping from my heart, the words almost lost between us as my free hand reaches up and pulls his face down to mine.

 

“I want you, too.”


End file.
